Red Christmas
by Confinamiento solitario
Summary: The first story of a series of fanfics. It's Christmas Eve, and the streets of Gotham are not safe. A teenager awakens in the middle of a turf war that he has no place in being. He must find his way out if he has any chance of surviving. (An Arkham Origins Story)


He found himself face-first in the snow. The temperature of it keeping heat away from his facial features. _I want to go home. _He thought, but, he knew it wasn't that easy. Though hope was the only thing keeping him going, it was gradually slipping from his grasp. With a groan, he pushed himself off on the ground, the muscles in his arms screaming in pain. As he raised himself to his knee, he began to take note of his surroundings. It was night, though this didn't look like his home. The buildings were huge, he was in a city. He looked around, taking in every observation that he possibly could. _Come on! Show me something, anything!_

He froze when a certain sign caught his attention. Across a small walkway near him was a big green top hat. It was a hat store. He focused on it, concentrated with all of his brain power to remember where he saw it before, but it was no help. His eyes widened when he heard a sound from behind him. He spun and took a step back, three muscular-looking men were standing in front of him, and they all wore black leather jackets and slacks. Their hands were covered in black leather gloves and their faces were concealed behind black masks in the shape of skulls. The man standing in between the two, who appeared to be the leader, came forward.

"Well, now. Look what we got here." He said, leaning towards the boy. "Isn't it a little past your bedtime kid?" The boy kept eye contact, knowing if he let go for one second, it could be his end. "I don't really know where I am, to be honest. Would you mind telling me what city this is?" He pulled up his hood as he spoke. The thug laughed, pushing the boy to the ground and knocking off the hood he just put up. He grabbed the boy by his blood-colored hair and pulled him to his feet. "He don't look normal at all do he?" he spoke to his comrades, shaking the boy around. The kid was gritting his teeth, growling a bit. "Let go of me!" he shouted. The henchman let out a loud, menacing laugh.

He swung his right fist forward, connecting with the teen's face. He was launched back into the ground. The boy dragged himself across the ground, trying to get some distance between him and them, but was pulled back by another one of the guys. The two "lackeys" held him by the arms while their leader paced back and forth in front of them.

"Normally, the boys and I would just take what you got and go. However, we've been lacking some entertainment for the past few hours since everyone is locked up in their homes due to the lockdown. So, to get rid of the boredom, I think we'll have some fun with you…" The leader took out a knife. He started to trace the tip of it around the cheek of his captive. "What's your name, kid?" The teenager stayed silent. He was shaking, not only for fear but he was freezing.

"Say your name kid!" the leader shouted, losing his patience. He quickly slashed his knife, making a cut under the boy's eye. He yelped, and pulled away from the blade as much as he could while the other guys were holding him in place. "I'm not going to ask again." Fear was visible on the teens face. The thin stream of blood from his cut making its way down to his mouth. _Am I going to die here?_

They heard something fly through the wind. The lead guy appeared to be hit by something and dropped his knife. The teen and other henchmen were confused, the teen especially since the two henchmen grabbing him let go and fell to the floor, unconscious. The teen looked towards the lead man whose knife was on the floor. He dove towards the knife, pointing it towards the teen. The teen then panicked, and backed up into something behind him. He froze, expecting the worst, and shut his eyes tightly. There were sounds of a scuffle, a very short one at that, then he heard a new voice.

"Where did you hide the extortion data?!" The new voice shouted. The teen's eyes shot open. He saw what looked like a man, wearing a bat costume. Although it seemed like a comical sight, nothing but intimidation radiated off of this man. The Bat-Man had his foot on the grounded leader's face. "Don't hurt me, please! I'll tell you!" The teen barely pain attention to what the man said. Scared out of his mind, he was rooted in place. One thing he did hear, "…a locker in the GCPD…" he had a feeling he would need to remember.

"Thanks, now you get to take a nap." The man dropped his knee on the leaders face, knocking him out. When he stood, he turned his head to the teenager. His gaze made the teen jump. Without thought, the teenager ran towards the hat store, ignoring the calls of warning from the masked man.


End file.
